# Worst spelling/language/grammar mistakes in published work **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469 "2012-12-29T08:28:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/41 "2012-12-30T02:00:05Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Last time I checked, which was a few years ago and not very thoroughly, it was not standard, just common. Which, as I said, usually means it will become standard soon. It is standard in some style guides. AP style, for example, says: “SINGULAR PROPER NAMES ENDING IN S: Use only an apostrophe.” (This is from the1987 edition of the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual) This is not new usage. This is kind of old-fashioned, as I said. The trend is actually going the OTHER way, to using the apostrophe-s. I was taught in grammar school in the 80s to use the bare apostrophe on names ending in “s.” Only in the last ten years have I gotten to using the apostrophe-s version (which is what I prefer.) I am speaking as to USA usage. YMMV in other varieties of English. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/42 "2012-12-30T04:02:16Z")
If the story that William Falkner changed his name to Faulkner to match the misprint in one of his early works, that counts as a major screwup. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/43 "2012-12-30T06:52:34Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I believe Strunk & White’s final declaration was to always use apostrophe-s, except for the handful of classical names ending in s for which a different rule applied (Jesus’ being the most obvious). I’ve followed that right into editorial board fistfights. I work in publishing too, and I’ve never understood why Jesus should be an exception: you can’t convey the possessive without clearly pronouncing the second _s_. In other words, Peter was one of _Jesus’s_ disciples, not one of _Jesus_ disciples (the way it sounds with just the apostrophe). Nor do I understand why it should be omitted in names like Elias. Again, those are clearly _Elias’s_ books, not _Elias_ books. In cases like _St James’ Park_ or _Mel Brooks’ movies_, I can see the logic in dropping the final _s_, since the meaning is perfectly clear without it, and it would sound awkward trying to pronounce it. But not when the possessive meaning disappears along with the final _s_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/44 "2012-12-30T07:10:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This is not new usage. This is kind of old-fashioned, as I said. The original genitive (possessive) ending in English hundreds of years ago was _-es_, in both the singular and the plural. So you would have said (and written) _the girles books_ (if there was one girl) and _the girlses books_ (if there was more than one girl). Over time, the _e_ in the first version was dropped and an apostrophe was used to indicate a letter was missing. In the second case, the entire ending was dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. Irregular nouns generally retain the _-'s_ ending in the plural: _the children’s books_, _the men’s room._ According to the BBC (there was a program dedicated to this), dropping the final _s_ after a name ending in a sybilant is a fairly recent innovation, and often both versions may still be considered correct: _Samuel Pepys’s diary_ or _Samuel Pepys’ diary_, take your pick. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/45 "2012-12-30T07:18:29Z")
Finally, in a case like _the Joneses_ (Mr and Mrs Jones), you need add only an apostrophe: _I really like the Joneses’ new car._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/46 "2012-12-30T15:11:24Z")
[quote=“NitroPress, post:13, topic:645469”] [li]He refers to Cronkite passing F-106s in their bunkers in Vietnam.[/li][/QUOTE] Maybe this is a euphemism to describe what happened when Cronkite ate the canned chili? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/47 "2012-12-30T15:14:28Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > On a number of occasions I’ve found typos in The New York Times. > > Not especially surprising, considering how much content they turn out and the speed at which some of it is written. Still, it’s the _New York Times_ and it always kind of surprises me. I’ve found typos in my local paper too. Usually it’s “everyday” used where “every day” is correct. Nobody seems to ever get that right! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/48 "2012-12-30T19:10:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … > So you would have said (and written) _the girles books_ (if there was one girl) and _the girlses books_ (if there was more than one girl). I guess that explains Gollum. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/49 "2012-12-30T23:23:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Finally, in a case like _the Joneses_ (Mr and Mrs Jones), you need add only an apostrophe: _I really like the Joneses’ new car._ I just hate missing the opportunity to say “Joneses’s.” (I actually once saw a manuscript where it was rendered “the Jone’s,” if you can believe that!) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/50 "2012-12-31T00:33:36Z")
A First Edition, First State book is when they make a change mid-print run, often due to error. With _As I Lay Dying_, the first state has the big first letter on a page mis-aligned; with _The Sun Also Rises_ there’s an extra “s” in a word; with _A Farewell to Arms_, the heroine’s name is misspelled on the inner flap. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/51 "2012-12-31T03:15:29Z")
I once read this book about two Stanford grads who were going around visiting all of the parks in Major League Baseball. I thought it was a fun read overall. The section on the Montreal Expos was particularly interesting – I think it was the very first time that I had ever come across that Canadian delicacy called poutine. But when it came time to discuss Wrigley Field and the Cubbies, they somehow managed to misspell Harry Caray’s name. Oof! ---
**Author:** ![grodinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/57b2e6/32.png) [@grodinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grodinsky)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/52 "2012-12-31T07:23:31Z")
i see this kind of stuff all the time. the most egregious was a steve earle biography called “hardcore troubadour”. the ones i remember are the band Tesla being ‘Tessler’, apostrophes being quotation marks in various places, and management company Q-Prime being referred to as Q-Prine in every circumstance except one. obviously they ran it through some terrible software but the one instance of Q-Prime being correct makes me wonder. i also really hope Tesla/Tessler was an error due to dictation by someone with an accent. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/53 "2012-12-31T07:44:48Z")
> [@grodinsky](#): > > apostrophes being quotation marks in various places Was this work published in Great Britain? I ask because their rules for single and double quotation marks are the exact opposite of US rules. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/54 "2012-12-31T08:04:20Z")
I have an edition of Lovecraft’s stories by Barnes and Nobles that has a whole bunch of weird typos such as the Yen sign popping up quite often. It got quite a lot of complaints obviously. ---
**Author:** ![grodinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/57b2e6/32.png) [@grodinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grodinsky)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/55 "2012-12-31T08:58:10Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Was this work published in Great Britain? I ask because their rules for single and double quotation marks are the exact opposite of US rules. im not sure. it happened mostly (maybe all of the time) when a G was dropped from a word. Hangin’ Out would be Hangin" out. ---
**Author:** ![KayLovesPurple](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylovespurple/32/6114_2.png) [@KayLovesPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KayLovesPurple)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/56 "2012-12-31T09:29:52Z")
I can’t believe I am the first one to mention this: [Susan Andersen's 'Baby I'm Yours' Typo: 'He Shitted On The Ground' | HuffPost Culture](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/susan-andersens-baby-im-yours-typo_n_958467.html)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/57 "2012-12-31T11:08:50Z")
Also in S.M. Stirling books, I’ve seen the Japanese sword wakizashi constantly misspelled as wazikashi, and the British insult “berk” misspelled as “burke” throughout. In other places, “sneak peak” seems to have displaced “sneak peek”. How a mountain can be stealthy I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/58 "2012-12-31T13:09:19Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > How a mountain can be stealthy I don’t know. Have _you_ ever caught one moving? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/59 "2012-12-31T13:43:09Z")
> [@grodinsky](#): > > im not sure. it happened mostly (maybe all of the time) when a G was dropped from a word. Hangin’ Out would be Hangin" out. Ouch! :eek: That’s not quite what I was referring to; someone was evidently taking the “direct opposite” thing to extremes… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469/60 "2012-12-31T13:46:11Z")
> [@KayLovesPurple](#): > > I can’t believe I am the first one to mention this: [Susan Andersen's 'Baby I'm Yours' Typo: 'He Shitted On The Ground' | HuffPost Culture](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/susan-andersens-baby-im-yours-typo_n_958467.html)🙂 That should have been “_shat_ on the ground,” surely? :dubious: An obvious misprint! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-spelling-language-grammar-mistakes-in-published-work/645469.md?page=4)